OAKLAND, Calif.—As the global coronavirus crisis drags on, and even gets worse on a worldwide scale, sex workers have suffered economically to a greater degree than many groups and professions.
Often with little or no access to government aid programs, and prohibited from working for health reasons even in countries where sex work is decriminalized, sex workers have struggled simply to survive. But their plight receives little attention from the media and the public.
Now, one Oakland, California “queer rock” band is trying to change that, with a new single and music video, The Advocate reports. Coming on the heels of their debut album Sex, Death, and Other People’s Money, the band Copyslut has released a new song, “Hooker Homecoming.”
In the video, the band describes the song as “a money-making protection spell” for sex workers.
“We wanted the 'Hooker Homecoming' music video to serve as a symbol of strength and resilience for those who work within the sex trades and industries,” Reiko Que Fuego, the band’s art and fashion director, told The Advocate. “We hope that it can help us all feel a little less lonely during this time of isolation.”
The band’s lead singer, Chatz, is also the publisher of a sex worker-oriented ‘zine, Don’t Hate My Heels, which is subtitled “A Confrontation With Whorephobia in Which the Whores Win."
According to a description on the ‘zine’s website, “writers tell personal narratives of everyday stigma, provide resources for sex workers and their supporters, and respond to the recent passage of SESTA/FOSTA.”
Watch the official Copyslut video for “Hooker Homecoming” below:
The Copyslut debut album, released in January, also covers the experiences of marginalized groups, whom the band describes as “Edgewalkers.” Lead singer Chatz decsribed creating the album as “an integration of the traumas and losses that came from some of the heavier songs and a powerful balancing growth that came from the lighter songs.”
Photo from Copyslut YouTube screen capture
